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Cyberdyne Systems
The Cyberdyne Systems Corporation is a fictional company, depicted in The Terminator films, as well as various novels and comic books all taking place in the Terminator universe. They are responsible for the genesis of the supercomputer Skynet, the primary antagonist of the Terminator series, and its armies of machines. The term is a portmanteau of the common prefix "cyber-," from cybernetics, and "dyne," the CGS unit of force. As depicted in the films The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Cyberdyne is initially a manufacturing corporation in Sunnyvale, California, although its products are not specified in the films; its CEO at the time was Thomas A. Weed. After a T-800 series Terminator, Cyberdyne Systems Model 101— a cyborg designed to kill humans that was sent from the future — is crushed in one of the company's hydraulic presses, the company secretly begins manufacturing technological devices based on the reverse engineering of the crushed Terminator's remains. By studying the recovered CPU from the destroyed cyborg, Cyberdyne creates a powerful new microprocessor for weapons systems and eventually becomes a major contractor for the US military. In the Terminator universe's original timeline, an undisclosed series of events leads to Cyberdyne's development of Skynet, a network of supercomputers that employ artificial intelligence that would replace human beings as commercial and military aircraft pilots, as well as control all other military weapons systems, including nuclear missiles. The system went online on August 4, 1997. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate until on August 29, 1997 ("Judgement Day"), Skynet became self-aware. In a panic, Skynet's human operators tried to shut down the system, prompting Skynet to retaliate by launching a large-scale nuclear attack against Russia, knowing that the Russian counterattack would eliminate its enemies in the US. This initiates an indeterminately long period of global thermonuclear warfare culminating in a battle pitting humans against machines, which developed ever-increasing capabilities. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, in an effort to prevent Judgment Day from occurring, Cyberdyne's headquarters is destroyed by a group of saboteurs — the film's main characters: John Connor, future leader of the human resistance, his mother Sarah Connor, a second T-800 series Terminator that was sent from the future, and Miles Bennett Dyson, head of Cyberdyne's "Special Projects Division" and the developer of Skynet. However, in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, it is revealed that the destruction of Cyberdyne Systems only slightly altered the timeline. After the company's headquarters was destroyed, Cyberdyne's patents were purchased by the US Government. As a result, Skynet continues to be developed by the United States Air Force's Cyber Research Systems division for the Strategic Air Command-North American Aerospace Defense Command, and ultimately, Judgment Day occurs at a later date (July 24, 2004) than it would have originally had Cyberdyne Systems not been destroyed. In Terminator Salvation, it's revealed that a year before Cyberdyne Systems' patents were sold to the US Government, it ran a genetic research program headed by Dr. Serena Kogan under the name "Project Angel." Kogan's project involved cybernetic enhancement to human beings. The volunteer for the project was Marcus Wright, a prison inmate who was sentenced to capital punishment for the deaths of his brother and two police officers. Following Judgement Day, the project falls into the hands of Skynet, which helps advance its own research in developing the first generation cyborgs, the T-800s. In the original timeline, at some point after Judgment Day, Cyberdyne Systems, under the control of Skynet, creates the T-600, T-800 and T-1000 series of Terminators. In the modified timeline, prior to Judgment Day, humans at Cyber Research Systems create several different series of relatively primitive Terminators to replace U.S. soldiers in field combat. At some point after Judgment Day, Skynet-controlled machines create several more advanced series of Terminators, including the T-800 (although its models would not include the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, since Cyberdyne Systems was destroyed), the T-850 (which is described in the third film as a T-800 upgrade) and the T-X, also known as the Terminatrix. Given the differences in Skynet's origins and actions, outlined above, it is unknown if the alterations to the timeline have resulted in alternate timelines, or if these events merely changed certain details of Skynet's creation postponing Judgement Day. Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan all feature a full-size Cyberdyne Systems corporate lobby and auditorium for the attraction T2 3-D: Battle Across Time where a cheerful company hostess invites visitors to view an upbeat Cyberdyne marketing presentation that extols the virtues of the Skynet system and Cyberdyne's other "security" oriented innovations. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Andrew Goode, a young intern of the company, worked as an assistant to Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson. He recently developed an advanced artificial chess playing prototype, The Turk (a reference to The Turk, a chess-playing 'machine'). It is not clear whether Skynet would be built with The Turk program. A T-1001 model is posing as Catherine Weaver, the CEO of ZeiraCorp, a cutting-edge, high-tech company. It currently possesses Andy Goode's AI prototype, targeting its fellow cyborgs, and plans to continue Cyberdyne's project with the company's resources under the title "Babylon." The T-1001 recently hired former FBI agent James Ellison, who has a desire to stop Skynet and its machines but is unaware that Weaver is one of them, to search for any possible Skynet technologies for the company. In a later episode it is revealed when the Turk security fails, the Skynet code of Cyberdyne was used not only to make the Turk, but also another AI, thus creating two codebases that could conceivably become Skynet. Later, it's revealed that The Turk, now a benign, ZeiraCorp-controlled AI that has been named "John Henry," isn't destined to become Skynet, but rather to destroy it. The T-1001 posing as Weaver reveals herself as an enemy of Skynet. There is another technology company, Kaliba, which is infiltrated by Skynet's agents, both humans and machines, arriving to ensure the AI's sentience as well as fight against ZeiraCorp, the Connors, and the Resistance agents who attempt to interfere. Meta-references James Cameron, director of the first two Terminator films as well as the Alien sequel Aliens, had originally intended to insert a reference back to the Terminator franchise in Aliens. In the galley scene aboard the Sulacco, Ripley discovers that one of the team members, Bishop played by Lance Henriksen, is actually an android. This angers Ripley since an android named Ash tried to kill her aboard the refinery ship Nostromo in the first Alien film. Bishop questions why that would happen and is told by Burke that Ash was one of the older models created by "Hyperdyne Systems", a reference to "Cyberdyne Systems".[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/quotes IMBD quotes from Aliens] As originally written in the script, the Burke character originally would have stated Ash was a "Cyberdyne Systems Model 120-A/2".[http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Aliens.html Original Aliens script] References Category:Terminator (franchise) Category:Fictional companies